15 lessons in circumnavigation

With the development in design and technology you might think modern-day circumnavigation is an easy task but girdling the globe is far from a case of setting the autopilot and sitting back.

A panel of experienced owners – Sietse Koopmans (Zeepard), Tom Perkins (Andromeda La Dea, Atlantide, Maltese Falcon), Mike and Judy Ryan ( Tenaz) and the owners of Twizzle – have each completed a circumnavigation and here they share their 15 lessons in circumnavigation.

Choose the right superyacht

The first thing to consider when planning a circumnavigation is your choice of superyacht, says Koopmans – go for the wrong one and you’ll be paying for it all the way around.

“My experience is that yachts are designed in committee by people that have no cruising experience,” he says. “My boat, Zeepaard, is an explorer which is as close as you can get to the best boat. I don’t believe in sailboats – I like day sailing and racing – but cruising with a sailboat is cumbersome. For the same price you have a motorboat with three times the space.”

Koopmans learned the hard way to pick crew with great care. “You learn to work with crew and their wits. Generally we had a great crew apart from one criminal chef who made transfers to her own account and disappeared.”

"Go with the current and the winds, then you will stay in the bandwidth of good weather,” advises Koopmans.  Zeepaard’s circumnavigation started in Malta in 2009. The superyacht cruised the Mediterranean before setting off west across the Atlantic – the best way, according to Koopmans.

The owners of Twizzle have gone round the world twice: east to west and west to east. The best, they say, is westabout. “The most practical direction (taking into account weather and seasonal winds) is to go counter-clockwise. Head for the Panama Canal, then through to the Galápagos and across the Pacific, then on to the Far East, Indian Ocean and Suez. Going clockwise is much more complex to programme,” they counsel.

Cape Horn should be rounded in December, according to Perkins, but even then it can be calm or horrific.

“We had only a perfect 20-knot breeze on the beam, so we sailed around the island and then on across the Drake Passage to Antarctica. The following year at the same time a friend with a similar yacht encountered 120 knots of wind and was unable to round,” he remembers.

Another headache on Koopamans’ trip was caused by red tape, most notably in Cuba. “Watch out in Cuba,” he warns. “Eleven government officials came to inspect, fill in and sign the same papers.”

“As it never gets very dark at night in those high southern latitudes, we sailed at night,” Perkins recalls.

“This was very foolish, we discovered, as radar doesn’t always show even huge icebergs if they are in the process of capsizing – the echo gets reflected into outer space and not back to the yacht. One scary incident (picture the Titanic) ended our night adventures.”

Beware the charts, Perkins warns. “The charts in Alaska aren’t terribly accurate. We ran aground with Andromeda and the nine metre tide left us totally out of the water on a bank of shale. We rigged kedge anchors far outboard leading to the mast top, to prevent tipping over (it worked) and all aboard went ashore for safety for eight hours before the tide started to return,” he recalls.

Some of the sharpest memories for the owners of Twizzle are of Papua New Guinea, at once the most frightening port of call and the richest culturally.

“Papua New Guinea can be pretty scary and we were made to leave some of the islands we visited, despite having a knowledgeable guide on board,” they remember. “But we were forewarned about the dangers and it was worth it as we saw some extraordinary sights and met some of the most colourful people in the world.”

“Spotting humpback whales breaking next to the boat in Niue, to catching a mahi mahi twice during a crossing in the Pacific on a $12 fishing rod, and seeing rays jump out of the water when chased are just a few of the unforgettable experiences,” says Koopmans.